Windows Anytime Upgrade packs coming for Windows 7 (Updated)

Windows Anytime Upgrade (WAU) for Windows 7 will be available both via retail …

Windows Anytime Upgrade (WAU) is an upgrade method offered by Microsoft and selected resellers for users who wish to upgrade their edition of Windows Vista by buying a license. As we talked about in our Windows 7 pricing post, WAU will also be available for Windows 7. Since May 2007, WAU packs have been sold at retail in North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific countries. That would suggest that there are WAU retail boxes for Windows 7, right? Correct, as pictured above, Aero XP has managed to grab a few snapshots of them and confirm that the "full version boxes carry the same dimensions as the current Vista boxes."

If the boxes seem familiar, that's because they were leaked last month. We thought they were normal upgrade boxes and were suspicious about how different they looked from the Windows 7 retail boxes that were confirmed earlier this week. Now it all makes sense: they're simply WAU retail boxes for Windows 7.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to Ars that WAU for Windows 7 could be purchased via two separate channels: "You can buy WAU options at retail or online." However, Microsoft is still holding back on pricing: "As with previous Windows operating systems, we know customers are often interested in upgrading to a richer experience by purchasing a higher SKU via Windows Anytime Upgrade," the spokesperson told Ars. "We can confirm that we will be offering anytime upgrades for Windows 7 and will be providing full details of Windows Anytime Upgrade pricing in the future."

Update

A tipster tells us that WAU for Windows 7 might not end up being offered in retail stores in the US and other developed countries. Only regions where broadband access is extremely limited or unavailable will have the WAU retail boxes offered. This is unlike Vista, which required the actual disc to perform the upgrade from edition to edition. Since Windows 7 does not require a disc to perform an upgrade from edition to edition, most users will be able to simply pay for the key online and perform the upgrade. In short, you may not end up seeing the WAU retail boxes for Windows 7 after all.